Whole bean coffee that you grind yourself is preferable to pre-ground, too. The bean’s exterior traps and protects all of the delicate, volatile, and water-soluble oils that give coffee its flavor. As soon as you break the protective shell, it’s easy for the flavor to get contaminated, and much of the aroma escapes as soon as the oils are exposed to air.
"Oh my goodness! I never knew such a thing existed. This tiny espresso maker makes great espressos! I have taken this to work with me and everyone is jealous. I mean everyone is jealous for real. I think I even persuaded some of my colleagues to buy one themselves! How funny is that? It's so easy to use. I usually use hot water to begin with and I don't bother with getting it to heat my water for me because that just takes a little bit too long. Holding the button for more than 5 seconds will activate the pressurized pumping gear. It is all electronic so you don't have to make any difficult pumping like in some other smaller products. The coffee comes out just as good as any espresso you can make. And the pods are crazy cheap. I found pods that are literally $0.10 each."
“I like the Technivorm Moccamaster because, from a scientific standpoint, it creates the proper water temperature (and temperature consistency) for good extraction of flavor from the beans. That’s the problem with most cheap automatics — they’re inconsistent about temperature. It also has a shower-head design for good water dispersion and saturation of the grounds. It consistently tastes almost (almost, I stress) as good as a manual drip.” — Andrew Chou, engineer, General Motors

The gist: The Nespresso Inissia is very similar to the Pixie. It also comes with one-touch options for either a single espresso or lungo cup size. It pumps with 19 bars of pressure and also heats up in less than 25 seconds. With over 2,500 reviews, it stands out with a 4.4 star rating on Amazon. The Inissia has more or less the same internal workings as the Pixie (including the 0.7 liter water tank), so the quality of espresso produced should be pretty identical. The difference: unlike the Pixie, which is made of metal, the Inissia's exterior is mostly plastic and has a slightly funkier design. However the Inissia comes in several colors, including red, black, silver, and titan.

“I grind the beans in a Hario hand grinder gifted from my brother to me when he upgraded to a fancy electric one. Using the hand grinder is meditative. It feels like you’re ‘earning’ your morning coffee a little bit more. At home, I use a Muji porcelain pour-over, but when I’m at my family’s house in metro Detroit, I love using their Bonavita BV1800SS. Unfortunately, I don’t have one of my own, but seriously, you can’t fuck it up. Super-easy and delicious every single time.” — Kimberly Chou, co-director of Food Book Fair
The gist: Okay, so although most of our list focuses on countertop espresso makers, if we're going by Amazon reviews, it'd be an injustice to ignore this Bialetti Stovertop Espresso Maker. As Amazon's best-selling stovetop espresso maker, this classy little thing is POP-U-LAR. As in 6,950 reviews (and counting) popular. Most impressively, those reviews give it an average of 4.3 stars, with 74% of them giving it a perfect 5-star rating. That's a hell of a lot of happy people. Now, disclaimer: we do have to mention straight away that the Bialetti doesn't *technically* make espresso, considering it's not able to build the amount of bars of pressure necessary to again, *technically* qualify it as espresso. However, Bialetti does give tips and guidelines for how to brew their "moka" coffee to your liking. (Moka is described as a mix between coffee and espresso.) Also, some reviewers (see below for example) claim they can't even tell the difference between the moka and a shot of espresso.
The Breville's conical burr grinder, made of stainless steel, effortlessly grinds coffee beans and optimizes flavor extraction by maximizing the surface area of the grinds. A 54mm tamper ensures expert tamping control, and a hands-free grinding cradle leaves all the hard work to the machine. Our favorite features are the Breville's grind size/grind amount selector dials, which enable you to customize grinds from fine to coarse.
First, of all of the espresso machines we tested, the two Breville models are the only ones that contain the above-mentioned PID for extremely precise temperature control. This means that the machine consistently pulled a slightly-sweet, creamy shot of espresso. It had plenty of crema on top. Another reason this machine pulls such a consistently wonderful shot is that it maintains consistent pressure—where other machines made bitter, flat-tasting shots, the consistent pressure of the Breville machine meant the espresso was flavorful and delicious.
Breville's 12-cup Precision Brewer is stacked with features that allow you to fully customize your coffee, like adjustable brew temperature, bloom time, strength and more. It also has settings for making cold brew, iced coffee, or the Specialty Coffee Association's standard Golden Cup. It's beautifully designed thanks to its sleek brushed stainless steel exterior and LED-lit digital display. Just note that you'll have to spend time exacting your preferred settings, especially when you first set it up.
Instead, our main concern was how well the wand incorporated air and steam into the mix for velvety, frothy texture. In our testing with our coffee expert, he pointed out that inferior steamer wands made giant air bubbles that quickly popped and only pumped air into the milk, without incorporating foam consistently throughout. So, we looked for a steamer wand that made consistent, well-incorporated foam.
Throughout the latter part of the 20th century, a number of inventors patented various coffeemaker designs using an automated form of the drip brew method. Subsequent designs have featured changes in heating elements, spray head, and brew-basket design, as well as the addition of timers and clocks for automatic-start, water filtration, filter and carafe design, and even built-in coffee grinding mechanisms.
Brew yourself a fresh mug of coffee with the sleek, stylish, and highly functional Farberware 8-Cup Classic Yosemite Percolator. A must-have countertop appliance, this percolator makes sure that your morning coffee rituals are refreshing and energetic. Featuring immaculate lines and a fine finesse, it has a classic design that looks great with most kitchen decors. Compact, easy to operate, and space-saving, it can easily be accommodated on your kitchen counter without occupying much space. The...

The tall tower is fixed on a rectangular base, with a water tank that looks something akin to a trapezoid. The hard plastic funnel allows your favorite paper filters to fit inside of it. It is recommended that you use type 4 paper filters, however. You also have the option to use permanent gold filters if you want to move away from reoccurring costs.​

Espresso machines can be intimidating. We wanted something that did not require reading a novel-sized manual, watching a lot of YouTube videos, or reading tons of articles about espresso pulling. Yes, making espresso does require some learning for the home brewer. That's part of the fun, but the machine shouldn't be discouraging and impossible to use out of the box.
Treat yourself to a new coffee maker from our selection at Williams Sonoma and get those mornings off to a brighter start. Choose from ultra machines for the office to low-tech coffee makers for camp and off-grid activities. Coffee machines are available with and without a coffee mill so you can choose to have the convenience of grinding your beans right where you brew your favorite beverages. Deluxe coffee centers allow you to make coffee, espresso, cappuccino and other coffee-based beverages including latte, pepresso, and Irish coffee. Several versions of coffee-espresso makers include milk foaming technology for creamy toppings on your mochas and macchiatos. Deluxe coffee makers and machines are superb additions to galleries, offices, club meeting spaces and anywhere you need to make a lot of coffee fast.